By MELINDA KRICK

Progress Editor

Part 1 of 2

Much like Y2K, the overblown Mayan apocalypse failed to materialize Dec. 21. The world didn’t end, but it sometimes felt like it could – or should.

Much of our year was focused on contentious elections, high gas prices (peaking at $3.92 per gallon in April), mass shootings, natural disasters and extreme weather (hurricanes, wildfires, heat waves, droughts), continued economic hardship and pop culture mainstays like the Kardashians, Snooki and something called Honey Boo Boo. The world also watched as 10,000 athletes from over 200 nations competed in the Summer Olympics in London and as daredevil Felix Baumgartner became the first skydiver to go faster than the speed of sound, after freefalling from 24 miles above the earth.